Like all of you, my life is so busy - kids, pets, husband, full-time job (teaching, so lots of paper grading at night at home) and after-school activities...and I'm wondering if it's okay to use convenient foods like rotisserie chicken (minus the skin, white meat only), extra lean, no sugar deli meats (ham or turkey), canned, no fat chicken broth, etc.? It would definitely make life easier...Your thoughts?

I've been using Swanson 99% fat free low sodium chicken broth in my cooking - and haven't had an issue. From the little I know, not only is this a low fat, low carb approach, but it's also low salt. Many prepared foods are very high in sodium and would perhaps hinder the loss of excess fluid? I'm not sure, maybe someone else can jump in here.

I tend to stay away from deli meats because of the preservatives and other questionable ingredients, including soy and salt.

I believe in order to gain health while losing weight, eating REAL food is key. I've been buying large packages of lean chicken breasts and cooking 8 to 10 at a time and keeping them in the fridge at home and at work.

You can mix it up by using different spices on each to keep it interesting. Some I grill - others I make into chicken soup with the broth - others I pan fry with a bit of Pam. Some I'll eat whole, as a meal - others I slice it up, stick it in a container and keep them on hand if I get hungry. Cold chicken is tasty and easy to eat on the go.

But consider this - when you're cooking chicken breasts in water (boiling) you're making broth. So keep it! Season it up a bit, pour it into a thermos and sip on it through the day.

The simplicity of the menu really lends itself to simple eating. In the past 3 days I haven't even barely thought about food, which is so strange for me. I know what I can have, and it's already prepared. When I'm hungry, I eat some. When I'm not, I leave it. If you cook 1 time for the entire week, you'll thank yourself and love the scale.

Just keep it simple and enjoy the results. Good luck to you, let us know how you're doing

I would think a rotisserie chicken would be ok, although don't some inject their with a solution that contains sugar?

I also supplemented with some protein shakes here and there when I've done stillmans in the past.

But honestly, this diet, even without any "convenience foods", is just about as low-maintenance as it comes. As long as I dedicated a little time once a week (Sunday usually) to preparing foods like a huge batch of chicken breasts, boiling some shrimp, cooking some extra-lean burgers on the Foreman grill, etc -- I was good to go for the whole week. Oh, and having those individual packs of cottage cheese helps too. I love the Breakstone ones w/ live active cultures.

we use the grocery store deli rotisserie chicken at least once a week, and since it's just the 2 of us, we get more than one meal from it...love the lemon pepper variety.

Also use a lot (a LOT) of Tyson Grilled Chicken...this is the stuff that's frozen, totally cooked, comes in strips, chunks or breasts. We either thaw overnight in the fridge or we zap it, covered to defrost. LOVE it. Hubby mixes hot sauce with LC ketchup to make a spicy "BBQ" like dipping sauce. I eat it plain usually. SOOOO easy. Pricey, but cheaper than high-carb fast food, lol.

We've tried the Tyson Grilled Steak...it's OK, but not nearly as good as the chicken. They also make fajita-flavored for both the chicken & the steak, but we prefer to do our own spicing.

Also have used canned chicken and canned tuna...but don't like those as much without mayo

Using the above products doesn't stall us...what does stall us is too many restaurant meals ("legal" meals...don't know if it's the heavy sodium, or hidden carbs in the meat rubs, etc. But restaurant meals definitely stall us both.)

__________________
Cathy from Nebraska (and Florida!)

RE-START date 3/06/2012

-65 lbs. Club for 2012 Re-start! Now at lowest weight in 8 years. Down 75 lbs. from all-time highest weight.

I know I'm resurrecting this thread a little bit, but thought it might be helpful for those of us who may be newer to the plan. I LOVE convenience, especially this time of year with sporting events almost every (if not every) evening.

I'm adding:

*frozen turkey burgers
*green tea packets (the single serve kind that you add to your water and shake up)...I like the Lipton brand, as they sweeten with sucralose instead of aspartame
*rotisserie chickens!!
*ready-to-eat turkey breast (found with the rotisserie chickens)
*Perdue short cuts (ready-to-eat grilled chicken strips, found near refrigerated meats)
*lite turkey kielbasa (from Aldi's...not as low in fat as some other things, but I've been doing alright with it)...easy to lop off a chunk for a quick snack
*hard boiled eggs...not a convenience food in the sense that they're store-bought (though I know you can buy them that way), but I like to boil up a huge bowl on the weekend so they're an easy grab during the week
*Knorr vegetarian vegetable bouillon cubes...I carry a box in my purse in case I'm out somewhere and can grab a hot cup of water to make it instead of grabbing something off-plan

What are your go-to convenience foods?

__________________Andrea

You know the laws of dieting. All gains are water weight. All losses are of fat! --SoHappy

Diced grilled chicken breast- found in the frozen food section. They do contain 2 grams of carbs and 10 calories per 3 ounce serving. I haven't eaten them yet, but they are there for an emergency for an evening that I get home really late or if I need to take off and eat them a little later.

I suggest buying both a Thermos short food canister and tall drinking canister. The food canister keeps foods cold I believe 8 hours, and the drinking canister for 24 hours. I love using both of them. About $40-$45 for both, and they are worth it!

Like all of you, my life is so busy - kids, pets, husband, full-time job (teaching, so lots of paper grading at night at home) and after-school activities...and I'm wondering if it's okay to use convenient foods like rotisserie chicken (minus the skin, white meat only), extra lean, no sugar deli meats (ham or turkey), canned, no fat chicken broth, etc.? It would definitely make life easier...Your thoughts?

The rotisserie chicken is good because I don't like chicken that much so the rare times I'm in the mood for chicken I get that and it's fine. It's just chicken. It's not like it's fried or breaded.

Oh, dear. I didn't realize the rotisserie chicken was injected with sugar. I always thought if I didn't eat the skin or the fat/juices on the bottom I would be okay. Does anyone know? I generally will pick one up at Sam's Club if I do get one. I may just ask the cook next time to be certain.

Oh, dear. I didn't realize the rotisserie chicken was injected with sugar. I always thought if I didn't eat the skin or the fat/juices on the bottom I would be okay. Does anyone know? I generally will pick one up at Sam's Club if I do get one. I may just ask the cook next time to be certain.

I hope that's not true, I thought that was one thing that was safe to eat. What would be the purpose of injecting sugar in it?

I just called Sam's Club to find out. I called a store in Chicago, since they aren't open in Vegas yet. I had to know, even though I only get the chicken maybe 4 or 5 times a year. Anyway, the meat department said they arrive pre-seasoned, however he can guarantee there is not any sugar added to the rotisserie chicken.

I stopped at wal-mart to pick one up because I'm doing laundry in an otherwise empty house. I checked the carb count on the label and it is 1 per serving and there are about 8 servings. I don't eat the skin so I miss whatever carbs are in the sprinkled on seasoning. I'm guessing that eating a whole chicken is no more than 5 carbs-if that!

I am most interested in the protein in the rotisserie chicken anyway. I don't eat much of the skin (a bite or two...I can't resist!), but I never count any carbs for it. I love rotisserie chicken! I buy at least one a week, often two.

Thanks for calling and letting us know, Hoops!

__________________Andrea

You know the laws of dieting. All gains are water weight. All losses are of fat! --SoHappy

I just called Sam's Club to find out. I called a store in Chicago, since they aren't open in Vegas yet. I had to know, even though I only get the chicken maybe 4 or 5 times a year. Anyway, the meat department said they arrive pre-seasoned, however he can guarantee there is not any sugar added to the rotisserie chicken.